People with dual physician parents - are you rich?

[VA Hopeful Dr]

Interesting... i feel like online in all the various physician finance realms (white coat investor etc) you never hear about pensions

Its not common, but its out there. There are 2 hospitals in SC that are basically private but were once county hospitals so have access to it, though I think one of them is about to do away with it. Anyone working for MUSC gets it as well, even those with zero academic time/interest half the state away from the main hospital.

Yeah... Was kind of shocked to see that pension was offered of a hospitalist gig I am trying to get right now...

Its one of the main selling points for the hospital system I work for. 9% pretax contribution that stops at 275k, and if you meet the full benefit requirements then you get 50% of your highest 3 years average salary. I plugged in 200k and it pays out 8.4k/month.

Since my wife also works for the same place, even if we never exceed 200k each that's still 17k/month between the 2 of us. So we've got that, maxing out 401k/HSA and that's our retirement plan in its entirety.

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[VA Hopeful Dr]

It's more like I probably wouldn't take proper care of the house, since I'm not good at that kinda stuff. I have always rented and probably see myself doing that, probably until I die.

OK, that's 100% understandable. I'd be the same way if not for wife/kids.

 

[Splenda88]

Its not common, but its out there. There are 2 hospitals in SC that are basically private but were once county hospitals so have access to it, though I think one of them is about to do away with it. Anyone working for MUSC gets it as well, even those with zero academic time/interest half the state away from the main hospital.

Its one of the main selling points for the hospital system I work for. 9% pretax contribution that stops at 275k, and if you meet the full benefit requirements then you get 50% of your highest 3 years average salary. I plugged in 200k and it pays out 8.4k/month.

Since my wife also works for the same place, even if we never exceed 200k each that's still 17k/month between the 2 of us. So we've got that, maxing out 401k/HSA and that's our retirement plan in its entirety.

That pension benefit is insane. PM me that company if ok with.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

That pension benefit is insane. PM me that company if ok with.

I'd also look at MUSC groups. The hospital MUSC owns in Florence has several hospitalist openings and I think they can buy into the same retirement plan:

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[SurfingDoctor]

There are other perks from institutions. At my current institution they will do 50% college tuition coverage based on the going rate for whatever the annual tuition is at the university, which is private. These exist at other places too. One place I interviewed at ages ago, it was 75% per spouse, so if your spouse worked there too, college was essentially free for your kids. If you had 3 kids, that's like $750K in savings.

 

[Angus Avagadro]

120k + (max 401k(x2) + match from company), which might total to ~180k. 8% ROI will get you 2.6 mil in 10 yrs and if we extend by 1 more year, it's ~3 mil.

8% is no given. As @YCAGA poinred out earlier, from 2000 to 2007, was a big dip in the market. It took my portfolio that long to recover to its pre dip level.Like 8 yrs. You might be making 8% all that time, but it took nearly 8 yrs for my portfolio to get back to the 2000 value.

 

[Splenda88]

8% is no given. As @YCAGA poinred out earlier, from 2000 to 2007, was a big dip in the market. It took my portfolio that long to recover to its pre dip level.Like 8 yrs. You might be making 8% all that time, but it took nearly 8 yrs for my portfolio to get back to the 2000 valie.

Got that... As long as you don't panic sell, you are ok.

 

[tony101]

Other than Kaiser I can't really think of why physicians would have amazing healthcare and pensions (lol??)... pensions are long gone for almost all professions and are most common with union jobs which physician jobs are not.

I also absolutely cannot take seriously anyone who says making 100k is "upper class". At 100k you're definitely doing relatively well compared to most Americans but upper class is the highest socioeconomic class; you think that a couple making 100k falls into that?

I'm also confused by what you think needs to be "fixed"... you realize that the reason healthcare is so expensive in the US is not because of physician salaries but the ridiculous insurance bureaucracy we have right? If for someone reason you think docs should make less unrelated to that, I'm curious as to who in society you think are "deserving" of high wages

1) Most hospital employees are covered by their hospital (Usually at far better rates) compared to workers in different jobs (Again, I suggest you look at the median individual income by a person who is making 35,977 which limits the ability to afford healthcare). Also, just avoid the blatant difference: you are a physician and likely know many other physicians who alone can help you in healthcare decisions. (Something many individuals do not simply have)

2) Apologies, I was speaking about a different savings account. I retract that statement.

3) First, actually read the statement by the pew research. The household income median (2 individuals ) is 65k. That would mean 1 individual would have to make 130k (Double 2-individuals combined, so 1 person = 4 people in terms of income) fall within that range. Physicians fall more than 3.5x that (The annual median household). This is again a massive issue. Someone presents statistical evidence that an individual may have more than 2x a household income(2 people combined) and where they fall in the spectrum. Their argument is, "Nah, I can't take that seriously"—what an amazing rebuttal to that argument. I'll make sure to take it back to the economists in the study.

Furthermore, what does fall within the upper class for you? Again, the average income for a family physician (Lowest specialty) is around 234 thousand dollars, 3.6x the median household income (2 individuals combined). The physician falls within the 96-97 percentile in the entire nation. Where do you think a physician would fall to the average person in the US?

4) The United States healthcare is the highest globally due to astronomical pharmaceutical prices, inflated hospital costs, and, yes, higher physician salaries. Although physician salaries are not the main problem, they are indeed an issue. Quite simply, it's not about "deserving." It's about quality healthcare and the massive issues this nation has due to failure in cost control. I can get into it and speak statistically and empirically about our healthcare system's massive issues, but that would be different conservation altogether. The main issue I am speaking about is where physicians lie in income and how they are incredibly high in the US, as demonstrated by the stats I posted above. Which if somehow you were born into two physicians in the US, it would put you in the highest echelon of the US, putting you at massive advantages and seen as rich by most Americans. (Which is a subjective term and varies from person to person, which is why I put stats and definitions of the upper class) I hope that helped clear things up a bit.

Cheers

 

[jambro]

1) Most hospital employees are covered by their hospital (Usually at far better rates) compared to workers in different jobs (Again, I suggest you look at the median individual income by a person who is making 35,977 which limits the ability to afford healthcare). Also, just avoid the blatant difference: you are a physician and likely know many other physicians who alone can help you in healthcare decisions. (Something many individuals do not simply have)

2) Apologies, I was speaking about a different savings account. I retract that statement.

3) First, actually read the statement by the pew research. The household income median (2 individuals ) is 65k. That would mean 1 individual would have to make 130k (Double 2-individuals combined, so 1 person = 4 people in terms of income) fall within that range. Physicians fall more than 3.5x that (The annual median household). This is again a massive issue. Someone presents statistical evidence that an individual may have more than 2x a household income(2 people combined) and where they fall in the spectrum. Their argument is, "Nah, I can't take that seriously"—what an amazing rebuttal to that argument. I'll make sure to take it back to the economists in the study.

Furthermore, what does fall within the upper class for you? Again, the average income for a family physician (Lowest specialty) is around 234 thousand dollars, 3.6x the median household income (2 individuals combined). The physician falls within the 96-97 percentile in the entire nation. Where do you think a physician would fall to the average person in the US?

4) The United States healthcare is the highest globally due to astronomical pharmaceutical prices, inflated hospital costs, and, yes, higher physician salaries. Although physician salaries are not the main problem, they are indeed an issue. Quite simply, it's not about "deserving." It's about quality healthcare and the massive issues this nation has due to failure in cost control. I can get into it and speak statistically and empirically about our healthcare system's massive issues, but that would be different conservation altogether. The main issue I am speaking about is where physicians lie in income and how they are incredibly high in the US, as demonstrated by the stats I posted above. Which if somehow you were born into two physicians in the US, it would put you in the highest echelon of the US, putting you at massive advantages and seen as rich by most Americans. (Which is a subjective term and varies from person to person, which is why I put stats and definitions of the upper class) I hope that helped clear things up a bit.

Cheers

Agree with point 1; definitely make far more money and very helpful in navigating our healthcare system.

For point 3 - I feel like we're talking past each other a bit. I completely agree that attendings generally make a crap-ton of money, especially in the most highly-paid specialties. However, upper class is basically the terminal level of social/economic class - I just disagree that your average physician occupies the same realm as hedge fund managers, CEOs, celebrities, highly successful business owners. Note that I'm not saying that your average physician is not SIGNIFICANTLY better off than your average american (they are) but IMO they are not at the same level as the aforementioned professions. Not saying physicians should be or that physicians get a raw deal or anything, just stating what in my opinion is a fact. IMO when talking about the terminal socioeconomic status, it is not really just a function of how many multiples of median salary (which is somewhat low). And whatever Pew says, I really don't think that anyone thinks 2x median income is upper class. So take the median worker in the country, marry them together, and now you're upper class? That doesn't make much sense to me.

Regarding 4), I'm assuming you have an issue with income inequality in general and not specifically physician salaries? I think that's a much more reasonable argument than simply saying physicians should make much less (just because) considering, again, healthcare costs have skyrocketed in the past few decades and yet med school debt has increased drastically and physician wages have been cut (compared to inflation). You could pay physicians what they get in other countries and still have the most expensive, unaffordable healthcare system in the world. So when I hear about cutting physician salaries for seemingly no reason, especially in the context of unaffordable healthcare, i just want to make sure we're on the same page.

Lastly, I agree that if both your physicians are parents you have many privileges and you'd be considered rich. Again, I assume you're making a broader point about SES and privilege here.